Shadow Of A Soul
by Nekura Kydo
Summary: Nekura is strugling with her inner demons. Can the children of the Inuyasha cast help her, or will she loose herself, and her best friends forever?


She ran. She ran as far and as fast as she could. Through woods and past towns and village after village. She couldn't stop, she wouldn't stop. She had to get as far away as she could, as fast as she could.

She couldn't face them, not now, not after what just happened. She couldn't face her friends, anymore, The young half wolf, Nekura, had just yelled at them. She had screamed, cried, yelled, and nearly used her powers against the people closest, to her heart. Her icy blue orbs, which resembled those of a wolf, despite the colour, shone brightly with tears as she ran. She couldn't believe what she had almost done. Looking back now, it was the most foolish thing she had done to date. She knew she should turn around, go back, and face her loved ones, but how could she after all that had recently occurred.

Earlier that day¼

Nekura had been found sitting on her favourite rock by the river, her ears and tail drooping, threatening to almost fall off, so it would seem. She had been found, lost in her memories again, thinking of her past, of the friends and family she didn't have, had perhaps never had. Lee had found her, once again, in sorrow. He wondered, as he usually did, what was wrong with her. He carefully walked up behind her, careful to walk normally, so as not to startle her, and thus, risk being hurt, or worse, killed.

"Hi Neku." he chimed happily, trying to sound as though he wasn't about to ask her what was wrong. "What's up?" The young ha-fu just shrugged, not bothering to look at her friend. "Err, is something wrong?" he inquired, trying to sound casual, and not at all curious. She just shrugged again, keeping her back to him, and her head down. He moved forward still, and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, then moved in front of her, crouching just in front of her sullen face. He cocked his head to the side, and again asked what was bothering her.

She turned slightly so he couldn't see her face. He placed his hands on hers, trying to comfort her, but she just pulled away. She was getting annoyed, couldn't he see she didn't want to talk? That she just wanted to be alone. Obviously he couldn't as he was trying to turn her face towards him, so he could look at her. She quickly stood up, and started walking away. He quickly grabbed her wrist, stopping her from continuing her exit. "Will you just stop and tell me what's wrong? Please?" she merely jerked her arm away, and managed a few steps before he grabbed hold of her again. She growled low, warning him to back off, and to leave her alone, but as usual, he didn't listen.

"I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you, until you tell me what's wrong." He tightened his grip some, making sure she couldn't break free. "Please Neku, just tell me what's on your mind?" She growled again, louder and more menacingly this time, but he just tightened his grip more.

"Piss off and leave me alone," was her new response as she tried to pull away, but he was stubborn, like her, and wouldn't let go. The more she fought, the tighter his grip became.

"FINE!" she hollered at him, getting angrier by the second. "You want to know what's wrong, I'll tell you. It's everything! My entire life and everyone in it!" Lee looked incredibly hurt at this, and loosened his grip some, then tightened it even more. "What the hell do you mean it's everyone in your life! I thought you were grateful for us!" he yelled back, tears staining his usually gentle eyes, which had become hard and cold at her comment.

"I am, but that doesn't mean I can't be pissed at all of you as well!" She was beginning to holler and scream louder with each breath. "What the hell is so bad about us!?" the young man in front of her questioned, his temper rising now too.

"Everything! I'm just so sick of it all!" she finally broke down, and all of those tears she had fought so hard to keep inside finally flowed out of her, staining her pale face. "You're always sitting there with Kura, complaining and feeling so sad about the parents you lost. At least you knew your parents! You know who they were, what they were like. Hell, Kura still has Inuyasha. Her fathers still alive, and you're parents were some of the greatest people that fought for good. Me, I don't even know who mine were! I don't know if they loved me, who they were, what they did, they could have been pure evil for all I know!" Lee looked like he was ready to cry. He hated talking about his past, and his parents most of all, and now, here was his best friend, bringing them up, knowing how much it would hurt him.

"You think its so tough, not to have known your parents, well at least you know they were powerful as hell, with all of the powers you control, I bet you're even immortal! You're bitching about not having a family, well its obvious your powers came from them, so don't complain. You could rule the world if you wanted to, or even find your parents, no problem, but here you are feeling sorry for yourself. You just have all this amazing stuff handed to you, and you do nothing but bitch!" Lee was furious. She had all of these great gifts, power over the world, and she still felt so sorry for herself.

"News flash! I wasn't given my powers, I didn't inherit them, I was just born with them! I didn't even know I had them! The only thing I know is elementals are born with their powers, and it's up to them to discover them. That and there's only one per thousand years." Her eyes were burning with anger and hatred. How could he understand. His powers come from his parents, and his training. He received what powers they had, and trained his body to become swift and fierce. Her powers had just been, and she hadn't known about them for years.

"Oh you think you're so special, to be the only one who has your powers, well that's great! Your one of a kind, and you're still complaining!"

"Oh ya, it's so great to have fallen asleep in a meadow, and to wake up to it having been set on fire, but you're left without a scratch. Or to be scared, and to have what's frightening you frozen solid all of a sudden. Or how about being struck by lightning, then realizing you had drawn it to yourself. That you can simply control what elements try to kill you. It's like, 'I'm going to try and kill you, and if you survive, you can control me.' So nice isn't it?" She tugged at her arm again, ready to set Lee ablaze, her fingertips growing hot as wisps of flame danced around them.

They just stood there, starring at each other in silence for what seemed like hours, until Kura showed up, cheerful as usual. "Hi guys," she chimed, blissfully unaware of what was going on. Nekura turned around swiftly, and glared at her, liking nothing better then to torture the pair of them until death at that moment. Instead, she just walked past the young half demon, and walked away, her eyes still streaming with tears of hurt and sorrow.

"Um, Neku, what's wrong?" she asked her friend, feeling very confused. A low, evil sounding growl was her only response. "What's with her?" she asked, turning to Lee, twitching an ear, which looked identical to her fathers, in curiosity. He looked at her, and his expression softened. Inuyasha's daughter seemed to have that effect on him. It must have been her mother's kindness that always melted his heart. "It's her past, she's getting worse when it comes to it," he whispered to her. "I see," Kura replied, turning and, calling to Nekura to slow down, she trotted up to her. Before she could get a word out, the wolf girl just screamed at her to leave her alone, and began to run. She just ran from her best friends, the only people she cared about, the people who she nearly hurt, who she could have killed. She couldn't be around them, not now, at least not until she felt better. So she ran, without stopping, all night, and over the next day as well.

Now¼

She had been running for two days and two nights, without so much as a small break. She was starving, and exhausted, but she wouldn't stop, not until she was far enough from her friends that she couldn't find them, and hurt them. She stopped, finally, by a small lake, and rested, determined that she could never find her way back alone. She couldn't believe, even now, what she had almost done. Could her parents have been evil, for her to think like she had? Or was it, that she didn't have parents? No, that couldn't be it, everyone had parents. So perhaps it was that hers just hated her, that they had abandoned her, which seemed more probable. And with this thought, for the second time in two days, she cried.

She sobbed for hours, long into the night, and into the first hours of morning. She cried and cried until there was nothing left in her. So finally, she just sat there, starring out over the crystalline water of the lake, watching the sun rise.

She was lost in thought again and barely heard the rustling of the bushes in the forest behind her. She jumped to her feet, and formed her Prism Sword, her favourite weapon. A blade of pure light, which was capable of dispelling darkness and never dulled, which left it constantly razor sharp. It was a most formidable weapon, and most that faced it, never lived to tell the tale.

"Who's there?!" she demanded, taking her fighting stance. That's when she picked up a familiar sent. "Oh no," she squeaked, terrified of having her fear confirmed, which happened a moment latter, when Kura and Lee stepped out of the dense brush. The both looked sullen and tired, as though they had been following her this entire time. She allowed the sword to dissipate, sending it back to where ever she conjured it from, and dropped to her knees. With her eyes on the ground, not noticing that her friends were running to her aid, she asked what they were doing there. Lee, who was pulling her up by the arm just looked at her, as though it was the stupidest question in the world. Kura, who was now pulling on the other arm, spoke what Lee had been thinking. "That has got to be the stupidest thing you could have asked. We're your friends and we're worried about you, so we followed you, isn't it obvious. Look," she said, noticing the confused, and hurt expression on her friends face, "I know you grew up alone, and had to learn everything for yourself, but you have to realize, you do have a family now. We're your family you dolt, and things are going to stay that way. Just stop taking off on us. We love you, and don't want you to get hurt. Besides, how can we be a trio if one of our members is missing?" She smiled at her lupine friend, and finished helping her to her feet. Nekura smiled back faintly, and nodded. She knew with Kura's nose they could have easily followed her, and somehow, she was grateful for this. She realized now, just what Kura had said. She did have a family, who loved her, and who she loved.

"Now will you come back with us, Inu can't be too happy that all of us are gone. We kinda left him with Myoga after all," Lee said, smiling, but looking as though it was the end of the world just the same. Nekura nodded, and hugged both of her friends tightly, one at a time. "I just wish there was an easier way of doing it," Lee sighed, clearly tired of running after his friend. "Well," sighed Nekura, as she pulled a small, green hourglass charm out of her tank top that had been covering it. The little charm was only about an inch long, and half an inch wide, and seemed to have little sands falling, like those in a real hourglass. The charm glowed a soft, emerald green, and felt as though it was alive. The three of them looked at it, Kura and Lee most curiously.

"This was by my side when I awoke one night when I was little. I kept playing with it and eventually found it could transport me where ever I liked," she said, answering their unasked question. "Just grab on to me, and we'll be off," she added with a smile. The two friends obeyed, and as soon as the ha-fu held the charm in her outstretched palm, and said "to Inuyasha" they were gone, and had appeared directly in front of the hut where he was arguing with Myoga, the flee. He nearly fell off the stair he was sitting on when they appeared. The trio giggled and shrugged when he asked how they did it. Nekura was back to her old self, and knew that as long as she had her friends by her side, she would be fine, and happy. She would always have a family, and friends, and with a swell of happiness, she could feel new powers growing inside her, and couldn't wait to try them out. Laughing along with her friends, she ran off into the clearing near the hut, telling her friends that she would be back soon, and that she had some training to do. She waved to them, and trotted off, after changing into the black wolf with the silver star on its forehead, and icy blue eyes, that the villagers knew very well, and loved. The last glimpse of her that her new found family saw, was a swinging black tail, and they heard a happy yip as she ran off into the early afternoon light, happier then she had been in her life.


End file.
